Science

We Should Give Seals PhDs

Meltwater from Antarctic glaciers is changing the makeup of the region’s oceans more than previously known, a new study finds. The measurements that made these findings possible were collected by an unusual group of researchers: seals.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Antarctica, Glacier, Earth Sciences, Antarctic, University of East Anglia, Meltwater, Glaciology, Physical Geography, Retreat Of Glaciers Since, Yixi Zheng

Climate Change Is Killing Butterflies in the American West

Butterflies play essential role in pollinating wild plants and crops. Which makes a new study published in Science on Thursday such bad news. It shows the climate crisis is posing an existential threat to their survival, particularly in the American West.Read more...
Tags: Science, Climate Change, Environment, Articles, Nature, Citizen Science, Habitat, Conservation Biology, Effects Of Climate Change, West Read, Monarch Butterfly Migration, Philosophy Of Biology, Physical Geography, Climate Variability And Change, Matthew Forister, Environment And Environmental Sciences

Underwater Robot Stealthily Swims With a Propulsion System You Can't See

Sound travels faster and farther underwater because it’s denser than air, and that can make it harder for researchers trying to study marine life who get an early heads up to go into hiding. But a new underwater robot could move stealthily through the waves using a propulsion system that doesn’t rely on a propeller or…Read more...
Tags: Science, Submersible, Geography, Submarine, Earth Sciences, Submarines, Oceanography, Deep Sea Exploration, Physical Geography, Technology Internet, Underwater Environment, Underwater Glider

New Satellite Images Show Earth's Latest Gigantic Iceberg

Behold A-74, an enormous iceberg that broke away from the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica late last month. Here’s what we know about the new ‘berg and what could happen next.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Antarctica, Icebergs, Water Ice, Ice Shelf, Glaciology, Christopher Readinger, Calving, Larsen Ice Shelf, US National Ice Center, Pierre Markuse, Liu Yan, Physical Geography, Geography Of Antarctica, Brunt Ice Shelf

Humans Have Completely Transformed How Water Is Stored on Earth

Human fingerprints are all over the world’s freshwater. A new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature shows that while human-controlled freshwater sources make up a minimal portion of the world’s ponds, lakes, and rivers, they are responsible more than half of all changes to the Earth’s water system.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Articles, Water, Earth, Water Resources, Pond, Earth Sciences, Fresh Water, Hydrology, Bodies of Water, Sarah Cooley, Physical Geography, Climate Variability And Change, Aquatic Ecology, Surface Water

Extreme Rainfall Has Been Linked With Low Birth Weight in Babies

Increasing extreme weather events is wreaking havoc across the globe, and may be harming the health of newborn babies in some of the world’s most remote and vulnerable populations. New research published Monday in Nature Sustainability finds a strong link between extreme rainfall events in the Amazon, which have been …Read more...
Tags: Amazon, Childhood, Science, Environment, Amazon Rainforest, Midwifery, Amazon River, Effects Of Climate Change, Obstetrics, Neonatology, Continents, Physical Geography, Health Medical Pharma, Birth Weight, Preterm Birth, Human Weight

Unseasonable European Warmth Smashes All-Time February Temperature Records

Winter has receded in Europe this week. Temperature records are falling as unseasonably warm weather sweeps across the continent delivering an early spring thaw, even while neighboring Russia is simultaneously going through a deep freeze.Read more...
Tags: Europe, Weather, Science, Cold, Winter, Russia, Nature, Meteorology, Natural Disasters, Fahrenheit, Heat Wave, Jet Stream, Physical Geography, Cold Wave, Climate Change In The Arctic, Northern Hemisphere Heat Waves

A Huge Red Flag Just Popped Up in a Little-Studied Region of Antarctica

Glaciers in Antarctica are turning the concept of “glacial pace” on its head. A new study of a little-observed area on the continent finds that rising heat is making ice streams flow faster, which has worrisome consequences for sea level rise.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Sea Level Rise, Antarctica, Glacier, Earth Sciences, Effects Of Climate Change, Ice Shelf, Glaciology, Physical Geography, Montane Ecology, Retreat Of Glaciers Since, Climate Variability And Change, Getz Ice Shelf, Heather Selley

A Major Ocean Current May Be Hurtling Towards Collapse

The ocean may have less time than we thought before massive, irreversible shifts take place. A new study finds that a crucial ocean system may reach its “tipping point” sooner than predicted if the rate of climate change continues at a breakneck pace.Read more...
Tags: Science, Climate Change, Environment, Climatology, Earth Sciences, Effects Of Climate Change, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, Physical Geography, Physical Oceanography, Climate Variability And Change, Chemical Oceanography, Abrupt Climate Change, Tipping Points In The Climate System, Thermohaline Circulation

You're Drawing Icebergs All Wrong

Megan Thompson-Munson, a geologist and climate scientist, has seen your drawings of icebergs and had enough. It’s time for a scientific reckoning. Read more...
Tags: Books, Science, Earth Sciences, Icebergs, Physical Geography, Geography Of Antarctica, Megan Thompson Munson

Russian Gas Tanker Shows Arctic Is Navigable Year-Round Now

Every day, the Arctic slips further into an unstable state. The latest sign: A Russian icebreaker and liquid natural gas ship have traversed the Northern Sea Route in February for the first time due to exceptionally low and weak sea ice cover.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Arctic, Navigation, Arctic Ocean, Regions, Northern Sea Route, Sabetta, Sovcomflot, Kara Sea, Physical Geography, Hemispheres Of Earth, Extreme Points Of Earth, Nuclear Powered Icebreaker

Scientists Found Unexpected Life Half a Mile Under an Antarctic Ice Shelf

Back in 2016, a team of marine scientists from around the world traveled to Antarctica to learn about the mysterious ecosystems under its vast ice shelves. One team of geologists was tasked with videos from beneath the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, which is on the South Eastern Weddell Sea.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Antarctica, Weddell Sea, Ice Shelf, Antarctic Region, Huw Griffiths, Filchner Ronne Ice Shelf, Physical Geography, Wilhelm Filchner, Filchnerronne Ice Shelf, Argentine Antarctica, Second German Antarctic Expedition, British Antarctic Territory, Chilean Antarctic Territory, South Eastern Weddell Sea Read

The Siberian Tundra Is Doing That Exploding Thing Again

The Siberian tundra is still out here exploding. A new study from the Woodwell Climate Research Center has identified three new craters in the region’s increasingly volatile permafrost, and the climate crisis is to blame.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Arctic, Methane, Geography, Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Yamal Peninsula, Tundra, Permafrost, Cryosphere, Woodwell Climate Research Center, Physical Geography, Gyda Peninsula, Pedology

Glacier Breaks, Unleashing a Monster Flash Flood in Himalayas

At least 20 people are dead and up to 125 still missing after a piece of a glacier in the Himalayas collapsed on Sunday, causing flash floods and destroying a dam in its path. Video footage shows a colossal rush of water and rocks roaring through a mountain valley in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand after a…Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Himalayas, Flood, Glacier, Moraine, Uttarakhand, Meltwater, Glaciology, Flash Flood, Physical Geography, Montane Ecology, Retreat Of Glaciers Since, Disaster Accident, Landforms, Glacial Landforms

Once the World’s Largest Iceberg, A68a Is Now a Shattered Mess

The latest satellite imagery suggests iceberg A68a is in its death throes, as the once-colossal iceberg has deteriorated rapidly over the past week.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Icebergs, South Georgia, Water Ice, Ice Shelf, Glaciology, A68, Physical Geography, Geography Of Antarctica

The Arctic Ocean Was Once Filled With Fresh Water, New Research Suggests

Stunning new evidence suggests the Arctic Ocean was covered by a thick layer of ice and filled with fresh water on at least two occasions during the past 150,000 years. The observation could finally explain strange and dramatic climate anomalies associated with these glacial periods.Read more...
Tags: Science, Environment, Oceans, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Earth Sciences, Atlantic Ocean, Ice Age, Oceanography, Bering Sea, Fram Strait, Physical Geography, Physical Oceanography, Heinrich Event

17th-Century England Had Some Seriously Horrible Weather

Recent years have brought record-breaking wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters supercharged by climate change. But even to our jaded modern eyes, the weather that befell Bristol in Western England at the turn of 17th century is pretty shocking.Read more...
Tags: England, Science, Winter, Articles, Snow, Nature, Bristol, Frost, Water Ice, Human Interest, Precipitation, Western England, Physical Geography, Weather Hazards, Cold Wave, Little Ice Age

This Giant Ice Cube Represents How Much Ice We're Losing Every Year

We talk about ice a lot here on Earther—or more specifically, the growing absence of it. A new study puts what’s happening to the planet in striking perspective. While I can tell you the results show 1.2 trillion tons of ice disappeared every year since 1994, it’s a lot easier to grasp as a visual.Read more...
Tags: Science, Ice, Sea Ice, Glacier, Earth Sciences, Oceanography, Effects Of Climate Change, Ice Shelf, Glaciology, Cryosphere, Physical Geography, Montane Ecology, Retreat Of Glaciers Since